January Roundup 2013

As long as we’ve been into the UK dance scene, it has seemed to get better every single year. 2012 was a momentous one, where the scene began to properly diversify and the darkest shades of techno could be found rubbing shoulders with the airiest bass-pop tunes. If this list is anything to go by, we might have an even more exciting year on our hands.

Let’s get on with business then. We start with our favourite track of the month, and onwards through lush piano house, dark techno sounds all the way to the experimental edges of bass music. Here are White Noise’s top tunes for January.

Tracklist:

(Click the track to go to our review of the release)

Applebottom – All Nite [Madtech]

Chesus – Special [Local Talk]

The Phantom – Vogue Dub [Your Mama’s Friend]

Bicep - Mixxmaster 88 [Wolf]

Alex Coulton – Dance, Max [Hype Ltd]

Natan H & Amy Jean – I Know [ManMakeMusic]
Kevin McPhee - Version 5 [3024]

Elson David – God Bless  [Shades of Grey]

Waifs & Strays – I Saw Yo Girl (Full Acid Vox Edit) [Future Boogie]

Parris Mitchell – All Night Long feat. Reggie Hall [Wicked Bass]

Palace – Trust [UTTU]

Boddika – Soul What (Mickey Pearce RMX) [Swamp81]

Troy Gunner – Masks [Infinite Machine]

Synkro – Acceptance [Apollo]
Diva - Paris Stabbing [New Kanada]
Delroy Edwards - Sprk tha Dust [L.I.E.S]

Machine Drum x Sun Ra – Door Of The Cosmos [All City]

Notes:

We love Bok Bok's remix of All Night Long, but it's not on Youtube. Check it here.

Listen to the full version of Chesus' Special here.

Palace – Trust

Label: Unknown To The Unknown

White Noise’s favourite label of 2012, DJ Haus’ eclectic and hyperactive UTTU, have their fingers in a lot of pies. Careening wildly from garage to electro, jungle to grime, the diversity of their output is matched only by the tunes’ astonishing energy. That said, the majority of the best releases from the UTTU camp have recalled the early-2000s bassline garage sound, the meaty sub-bass experiments that recall grime at its dirtiest that can be found on the label’s ace Tales From The Darkside compilation or Palace’s last release, Mandy.

Trust can be seen as a sequel of sorts, refining the sound of the producer’s earlier release while continuing to court the more excitable, leftfield sides of the dancefloor. The original mix is the best cut on here, taking no time to get started over a dusty 2step beat pattern that’s all snappy snares and twitching hi-hats. The centrepiece is an immaculately programmed bassline that scarcely repeats a phrase of its winding melody throughout the track. It’s a perfect example of one of those rare, showstopping elements that can make everyone on the dancefloor stand up and take notice, and the addition of a smattering of fragmenting diva cries only enhances the effect.

Trust

In-house remixes come courtesy of MATRiXMANN and scene stalwarts Mista Men to varying degrees of success. The former clips that monstrous bassline down to its core elements, adding a serrated bassline wobble and punchier beats, but the removal of the original cut’s key element leaves the tune feeling a little hollow, as if the fun’s been taken out of it. Garage duo Mista Men, whose excellent Forget U featured on our Best Tracks of 2012, offer a more impressive take on the tune. Laying down one of their signature 2step rhythms, the bassline is brought down to frequencies that will threaten even the meatiest bass bins, resulting in a more propulsive and danceable version of the title track that admittedly still feels a little less remarkable.

With two out of three of these tunes sure to destroy any dancefloor, the only question DJs will be left asking is how much they want to stand out. UTTU have thus far excelled at providing cuts that are more than a little different, and Palace’s exceptional bassline outing is an excellent start to what promises to be another year of stellar releases.

7.5/10